No 'A' drive seen after floppy install

[dirtbroker]

I had recently r/r a sony MPF920-F floppy from my ME to XP. I hooked up the floppy to the floppy power and data cables that were available inside the computer and the date cable was connected to the mobo. The data cable even had a picture of a floppy disk on it....but the system doesn't see any drive 'A". Why is this??

 

[aford10]

Check the BIOS to make sure the floppy is enabled.

Check the device manager to see if it has a conflict (yellow !) on it.

Try using a different floppy drive cable.

 

[dirtbroker]

Check the BIOS to make sure the floppy is enabled.

Check the device manager to see if it has a conflict (yellow !) on it.

Try using a different floppy drive cable.

In the Device Mgr there is no (yellow !) on it...

I'm pretty sure that all is 'enabled' but there was no specific mention of the word 'floppy'...

I will try another cable...

(FYI: Tthe last time that I had used the floppy it did work)

 

[aford10]

There should be reference to a floppy or A drive in the BIOS.

 

[dirtbroker]

I will check the BIOS again but as I recall there was no reference to the A drive or floppy. I had accessed the BIOS by pressisng my F2 key when first starting up my computer. Is it possible that my mo/bo does not have a controller...if that makes any sense?

 

[aford10]

OEM BIOSs get locked down pretty good, so you may or may not have it.

Did the floppy drive show up in the device manager?

 

[dirtbroker]

I don't quite understand what you mean by being locked down pretty good...I'm very new at this...My questions is, why is there an unused floppy cable attached to the mo/bo??

No floppy drive shows in the DM.

 

[aford10]

Maybe the PC had a floppy at one time? I don't know..... Is it a homebuilt one, or OEM (HP, Gateway, Compaq...etc)?

OEM computers are sold to the general population. Most aren't enthusiasts who want to tweak settings. Therefore, much less is put in the BIOS, and usually never noticed.

Grab a flashlight, and look real close where the cable connects to the motherboard. Does it say FDD near that port?

First, I would start by changing the FDD cable.

 

[dirtbroker]

BINGO!!!!!

I went back into the BIOS and, step by step, click by click, I had located the floppy option and had changed the USB to Internal...when I had exited, I got a green light on my floppy...I went into the DM and it was there and got a message that said new hardware was added and it is now available to use.

Like they say, you learn something new every day!

Once again, thank you very much for your help!!!!

 

[dirtbroker]

Best answer selected by dirtbroker.

 

[aford10]

Good deal....thanks for the vote

 

[dirtbroker]

You are welcome, aford10!